Park, Park, Park & Park

The kids half term break ended with a day of water and a long time in the car. The last day- Friday- the three of us hopped in the car at 9am.  First stop: Woodcote Park for a swim. Then, back in for a hour long drive south. On the grounds at Woodcote- RAC. Next stop: Brighton, on the coast, for a late lunch and a walk along the beach, where we dodged big waves and a bit of rain. On the rocky beach at Brighton Then fought the M25 traffic home...

We had a beautiful sunny Sunday today, so after church, we piled in the car and drove out to Hughenden - a National Trust property.  The kids were energetic, despite a sleepover with Taroh and Talis last night. Before rolling down the hill... Outside the Ice House on the grounds

As in years past and farther past , we ventured into Chinatown for the Chinese New Year- this year being the year of the Horse .  It's always a treat, and this year more so for two reasons- friends and fireworks (sort of). We met Taroh and Talis (and their parents) in Chinatown- here they are.  We then mingled over to a hawker stall selling noodles on the street, which the kids gobbled up. The fireworks part is a bit of Chinese tradition.  It's important to scare away evil spirits at New Year with fireworks, so they sell boxes of snaps (a little bit of gun powder wrapped in tissue, which when you throw on the ground, explode: harmless, I assure you).  The boys loved them.  And found all kinds of creative ways of throwing them.  We may still have a few in surplus for a "special event".

C spent a great deal of time and emotional effort in learning to sing these past few months.  Sheringdale created a small group of students who participated in Young Voices .  This is an England-wide choir, with the main event a big group sing-a-long at the O2 Arena for all the parents- a big pop concert, with flashing lights and loud music! If you look VERY closely below, you can see C in the center, upper right quadrant.  And here he is late that night arriving home well past his bedtime (at 10:45pm!) still excited.

An original, unprovoked creative project.